Bale-tie machine.



' I I J. H. MEIK.

BALE TIE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25. 1908.

Patented Mar. 16, 1909.

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Patented Mar.16, 1909'.

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BALE TIE MACHINE.

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JOHN H. MEIK, OF FREDONIA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO ALVAH M. GItIFFIN, OFFREDONIA,

KANSAS.

BALE-TIE MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 16, 1909.

Application filed August 25, 1908. Serial No. 450,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. MEIK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fredonia, in the county of Wilson and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and .useful Improvements in Bale-Tie Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bale-tie machines, and has for its object toproduce a bale-tie machine which will operate efliciently and reliablyand which is of simple, strong,

I durable and comparatively inexpensive coninverte struction.

With this and other objects in view as hereinafter appear, the inventionconsists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction andorganization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that itmay be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the front end of abale-tie machine embodying my invention, with the knife-carryingstandard in section. Fig. 2 is a planview on a smaller scale of the rearend of the machine. Fig. 3 is a side view of the front end of themachine. Fig. 4 is a side view on a reduced scale, of the rear end ofthe machine. Fig. 5 is a side view of the opposite side of the front endof the machine. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the wire-straighteningmechanism and also part of the counting mechanism. Fig. 7 is a verticalsection on the line VII-VII of Fig. 1. Fig. Sis a vertical section onthe line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a vertical section on the lineIX-IX of Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a central vertical section of the front end of the machine,of the cutting and part of the twisting mechanism. Fig. 11 is alongitudinal section of one of the twisted-bar heads of thereciprocatory carriage and also shows the twisted bar engaging the head.Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view of the twisted bar, the header fortwisting the same, a part of the machine frame and a link to reciprocatethe header and the carriage. Fig.13 is a sectional perspective view ofthe knife-carrying standard, the jaws to hold the wire while being cutand a Cpart of the folder. Fig. 14 is an plan view ofpart of thecarriage to disclose more clearly the construction of the bale-tiethrow-01f device. Fig. 15 is a view of the completed bale-tie.

In the said drawings where like reference numerals indicate corres'onding parts, 1 indicates a pair of similar eg-frames, 2 a air oftransverse plates mounted upon said egframes, and 3 a pair of parallelangle bars connecting and secured to the leg-frames and overlying bypreference, the ends of plates 2.

4 indicates a bracket secured to the front leg-frame and rojectingforwardly therefrom and journa ed on said frame in the vertical plane ofthe center of the machine is a longitudinal series of rolls 5 and asecond longitudinal series of r0lls6, the rolls of one series beingstaggered with respect to the rolls of the other series in order that asthe wire 7 is drawn between said staggered series of rolls it will bestraightened.

8 indicates a grooved wheel arranged in the vertical plane of rolls 5and 6 and secured on a horizontal shaft 9 j ournaled in bracket 4 andthe boss 10 thereof, and secured on said shaft is a wheel 11 pivotallyconnected by a link 12 with the horizontally-arranged bellcrank 13pivoted on a pin 14 depending vertically from an arm 15 projectinglaterally from bracket 4, a nut 16 engaging the lower end of pin 14 tohold the bell-crank thereon. A helical spring 17 is mounted on pin 14above the bell-crank and presses at one end against the latter and atthe other against a tension nut or collar 18 adjustably secured to thepin, the action of said spring being to hold wheel 11 as shown in Fig.6.

In the operation of the machine the wire 7 passes over wheel 8 andrevolves the same by frictional contact therewith, this revolution ofsaid wheel resulting in causing wheel 11 through centrifugal force toswing out to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and thusthrough the connections described rock the bell-crank 18. The bell-crankis pivotally connected by a link 19 to a pawl 20 pivotally pendent froman upright bell-crank 21, mounted upon a standard 22 erected upon thefront end of the frame of the machine, said bell-crank 21 being adaptedas hereinafter explained, to impart endwise movement to the pawl and thelink 19 to swing the rear end of the said pawl rearward in order thatsuch endwise movement shall result in operating certain mechanismhereinafter described.

23 indicates a stationary gripper secured upon the front cross bar 2,and provided in its upper side with a wire-guide groove 24 through whichthe wire is adapt-ed to travel, said groove communicating with the spacebetween a pair of upwardly and rearwardly curved horns 25 projectingfrom the rear edge of said plate in order to retain the wire in properrelation to said-groove.

26 indicates a block secured to plate 2 at the opposite side of the samefrom standard 22, and pivoted to said block for movement in a verticalplane is an arched gripper 27, of such proportions that its free endnormally is at one side of groove 24 and capable of moving downward intosuch groove so as to clamp the wire therein. To operate said gripper 27it is provided with an arm 28 pivotally connected by a link 29 withacrank arm 31 of a longitudinally extendingrock-shaft j ournaled in apair of standards 32 mounted upon the frame of the machine.v

A normally vertically-pendent U-shaped crank 33 for said shaft isprovided at the upper ends of its arms with outwardly projecting arms 34fitting in sleeves 35 secured rigidly on the shaft 30 by set screws 36,set screws 37 being carried by the sleeves toengage arms 34 and thusclamp the U-shaped crank rigidly in position.

38 indicates a pair of stop-bars secured upon angle bars 3 near thefront ends of the latter, by bolts 39 and pins 40, the latter projectingupwardly beyond thestop bars for a purpose which hereinafter appears,the said bars 38 being formed with rearwardly disposed shoulders 41 andflaring rearwardly from said shoulders.

42- indicates a pair of resilient plates or brakes overlying andprojecting rearwardly ,beyond bars 38, and secured to the same and tothe frame by the bolts 39, thesaid brakes being prevented by theupwardly projecting pins from swinging outwardly beyond the positionshown in Fig. 1, it being further noticed by reference to Fig. 3 thatthe rear ends of the brakes extend upwardly and rearwardly so as to formin conjunction with the angle-bars 3 flaring mouths, for a purpose whichhereinafter appears.

A slidable carriage mounted on the angle bars to travel thereon,consists of front and rear lower plates 4-3 underlying the inwardlyprojecting arms of-ijthev angle bars and caps 44 overlying said arms ofthe angle bars and the front bar is of such proportion as to be capableof passing into the flaring mouths formed by the latter and said brakesand into the flaring mouths formed by the stop bars until arrested bythe shoulders of the same, it being understood that said brakes-imposesufficient friction upon the frontbearing ca to prevent the same fromstriking the shou ders with any considerable impact or force and toprevent rebounding movement of the carriage.

45 indicates, short. longitudinally-alined shafts journaled in thebearings of the slidable carriage and equipped with enlargements orheads 46, at their rear ends and with collars 47 at their front ends toguard against endwise movement in the bearings and clamped on the frontshaft 45 by its collar 47 and projecting forward is a twister rod 48terminating in a flattened former 49 projecting radially inward in orderthat the eye formed in the end of the wire as hereinafter explained,upon said twister rod, shall be elongated.

50 indicates a spirally twisted. bar of uniform width and, thickness andarranged in longitudinal alinement with said shafts and secured at itsfront end in the headed end 46 of the front, shaft and at its rear endin the front. end, and collar 47 of the rear shaft, said bar having asufficient number of twists to cause it as hereinafter explained, torotate about two and three fourths revolutions, the ends of the spiralbar being disposed at right angles to each. other, as shown clearly inFig. 1, so that when the device which turns the spiral bar and thuseffects the twisting oper ation, is engaged with the front end of saidbar, the former on the twister rod shall be disposed horizontally, asshown in Fig. l, and that when said device shall engage the rear end ofsaid spiral bar it shall hold said endhorizontally and thus hold theformer of the twister rod depending. The said de* vice consists of, acylindrical pin 51 provided with a bifurcation 52 at one end, receivingthe horizontal arm of the adjacent angle bar, and with a head 53 at theother end provided with a horizontal bifurcation 54 to accommodateeither of the flat ends of the spiral bar and with internal spiralgrooves 55 opening into the bifurcation 54 to accommodate the twistedportion of said bar, and in order to move sald device longitudinally andthus rotate the spiral bar and the parts rigid there with in onedirection or the other accordingly as the said device is moving towardthe rear or front end of the machine, Ipivotally mount a link 56 uponthe pin 51 as shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 12, the oppositeend ofthe link being pivoted to a headed pin 57 rigidly secured to andprojecting rearwardly from a link 58 pivotally connected to an endlesschain 59 engaging sprocket wheels 60 and 61'. The sprocket wheel 60 issecured on the inner end of a short shaft 62, j ournaled in thehubportion 63 0f an arch 64' erected upon the mach'ineframe, and mountedupon the outer end: ofsaid sh aft are fast and loose belt wheels-65 and66-respectively; The sprocket wheel 61 isjourna-ledon a stub shaft 67carried by'a bearing standard 68 mounted upon the machine frame near itsrear end.

In practice the belt wheels are driven in the direction indicated by thearrow, Fig. 3, and thus move the chain as indicated by the arrowadjacent thereto. When the link 58 is moving rearwardly it first impartsrotary movement to the twisting mechanism by pulling the pin 51 rearwardfrom the front to the rear end of the spirally twisted bar and thencarries said bar and the parts connected thereto rearwardly, the rotarymovement of the bar effecting the twisting of the wire to complete theeye or loop in its end as hereinafter explained, and the longitudinalmovement of the bar drawing the wire rearwardly through the machine. Theforward movement of said link which occurs after it travels down aroundthe sprocket wheel 61, results in "first reversing the rotation of thespirally twisted bar, through the travel of the bifurcated and groovedhead 53 thereof and then effects forward movement of said twisted barand the connected parts until they have attained their originalpositions as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. It will thus be seen that whenmoving rearwardly link 58 pulls upon link 56 and that in its opposite orreturn movement it pushes against said link, and in order to preventsaid links from buckling at their pivotal point of connection downwardlybeyond a certain plane at any time, or from buckling upward unduly whenperforming its pushing function, the link 56 is preferably projectedupward beyond the pivot pin 57 and terminates in a flange 69, whichoverhangs link 58, this flange obviously preventing the pivotal point ofconnection etween said links, dropping below the plane of the pivotalpoints of connection of link 56 with pin 51 and link 58 with the chain.To prevent the said links'buckling upward when the link 58 is performingits pushing function, a helical spring 7 O is mounted upon the headedpin and has one end hooked under link 56 and the other end secured tothe head of said pin, this spring as explained prevents the linksbuckling upward but will yield to permit of the necessary pivotaloperation which must occur when link 58 is rounding wheels 60 and 61.When rounding the former the links assume the positions indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 3, at a certain period of the travel of link 58,during which period. of course the lower end of link 56 remains fixedand the parts connected thereto are stationary. W hen the link 58 isrounding the rear sprocket 61, the parts referred to are also stationaryexcept that link 56 is at the front end and operates pivotally toaccommodate the changing positions of link 58. It will thus be seen thatalthough link 58 is moving constantly the link 56 and the partsconnected thereto are momentarily stationary at each end of theirtravel. As the link 58 travels upwardly around sprocket 36 it engagesthe crank arm 33 that is to say,

the anti-friction roller 71 journaled on the end of the pivot pinuniting the chain and said link engages said crank arm and forces thesame upward and thus rocks shaft 30 and through the instrumentality ofcrank arm 31 and link 29 forces the gripper 27 down upon the wirerunning through groove 2 1: so as to clamp thesam'e rigidly on plate23preliminary to the formation of the eye or loop at the front end ofthe wire, it being understood that the'wire at such time lies under theformer of the twister rod and over the angular folder 72 secured rigidlyon and forming a crank of the transverse shaft 73 journaled in the frameof the machine and equipped at one end with a grooved drum 74 and at theother end with a nut 75, and mounted upon said shaft and secured in anysuitable manner at one end to said nut and at the other to the machineframe is a spring 76 for a purpose which presently appears.

77 is a chain engaging the grooved drum and secured to the same at oneend and at the other to a longitudinally extending rod 78. Adjustablysecured upon said rod by means of nuts 79 is'a block 80 pivotallyconnected to the lower end of the crank arm 82 of a rock shaft 81journaled' in a bearing 83 secured to the machine frame, said shaft being provided with a rearwardly projecting crank arm 84 terminating in adouble crank arm, consisting of an upwardly projecting portion 85, aninwardly projecting portion 86 and a rearwardly projecting portion 87,the last-named portion being adapted to be engaged by an anti-frictionroller 71 hereinbefore described in the forward movement of the same andpushed upward as said roller travels upwardly around sprocket wheel 60with the chain, being pushed upward against the resistance of a spring88 secured to the machine frame for the purpose of guarding againstaccidental pivotal movement of the shaft 81, said spring being of suchform that it will yield likewise to downward movement of crank 84,effected through the action of spring 76, as hereinafter explained, theupward movement a of said double crank arm rocks shaft 81 whichim partsrearward endwise movement to rod 78 through the medium of drum 7 4, andchain 77 turns rock shaft 73 about one hundred and eighty degreesagainst the resistance of the torsional spring 76 so as to cause thefolder 72 to bend the end of the wire upwardly and forwardly over theformer of the twister rod and down into the groove of plate 23, thisaction immediately preceding the action already described of gripper 27,which as will be readily understood, presses the doubled or bent-backportion of the wire tightly down against the body portion underlying itin said groove. Immediately after the bentback end of the wire is thusclampedv to its body portionthe link '58 completes its up-v wardmovement around sprocket wheel 60.

and traveling-rearward with thechain swings, link 56 downward until theflange 69 of the latter, strikes the upper edge, of. link 58, thecontinued movement of the chain and link. thus causing head 53 to travelrearwardly upon and rapidly revolve the spirally-twisted bar so as tocause the twister shaft and the twister pin to revolve and twist thebeveled portions of the wire together and complete the formation of theeye or loop therein. As this action is completed, the roller 71 clearsthe rear end of the crank 33, to permit said crank to gravitate back toits original position and thus reverse the rotation of rock shaft 30 andreelevatethe gripper 27, it being understood that immediately after thegripper was caused to clamp the bent back portion of the wire againstits body portion, the rollers 71 passed from under crank 87 to permitthe spring 76 to return the folder and said crank thereof hereinbeforedescribed, to their original positions. Immediately after the gripper 27is reelevated as explained, the head 53 comes into engagement with thefront end of the rear shaft of the carriage and the collar 47 thereonand pulls said carriage rearwardly, the former beinginstrumental in thismovement in pulling the wire from a reel or coil, not-shown, toward therear of the machine, and as the front end of link 58 starts down aroundsprocket 61, the. wire is severed by cutting mechanism constructed asfollows :89 indicates a casting, disposed at the underside and securedin any suitable manner to the inwardly projecting arms of angle bars 3,and embodying a depressed central portion 90, a quadrantwshaped portion91 arching over the center of the depressed portion and an upwardlyprojecting standard 92 rising from theupper end of the arched portion91, which standard. is preferably bifurcated at its upper end at 93, toreceive the bell-crank lever94, pivotally connected by a link 95 withthe vertically slidable bar 96 retained against the rear ends of thestandard 92 by guides 97 secured to saidstandard, said slidable bar 96being equipped at its lower end with a knife or cutting blade 98 havinga segmental cavity 99 in its lower or cutting edge and underlying saidblade is a stationary blade 100 secured to the depressed portion 90 ofthe casting, the parts being so arranged that when the knife is forceddownwardly, its cutting edge will pass the upper edge of the blade 100with a shearing action.

Secured to the front side of the depressed portion 90 of casting 89 is astationary dog 101 provided with a tooth 102' extending longitudinallyover said depressed portion and;

the stationary knife 100, and, of quadrant-- shape incross section.Pivoted to the castingadjacent-to arm 101, is a do 1.03, capableoffmovement toward and from og 1 01, said dog 103, being provided with-atooth 1041 paralleling, and adapted to contact with tooth 102.

105; is a coil spring mounted on the pivot, of dog 10.3 and secured tothe same. at one end as at 106 and having its other end 107 flaringupwardly and forwardly from the dog, and when engaged by the folder 72holding said dog with its tooth yieldingly against the tooth of thestationary dog. To hold the movable knife-blade of the cutting mechanismelevated, I employ a spring 108 which is secured to the grooved orstationary gripper jaw 2-3 and projects upwardly therefrom. and isformed with a recess 109, to receive and yieldingly grip bell-crank 94,which bell-crank is pivoted to the front end of a rod 110 which extendslongitudinally of the machine and through a suitable guide standard 111erected upon the rear end of the frame thereof, and is provided with anadjustable depending arm 112 adapted to be engaged by the roller 71 asthe latter arrives in its rearward travel opposite sprocket wheel 61. Bythis engagement, the rod is moved rearward and through theinstrumentality of bell-crank 94 and link 95 forces the knife-carryingbar 96 downward and depresses the wire extending from the grippermechanism longitudinally through the machine to the former at such timeadjacent to the rear end of the machine, the front half of the depressedportion passing between the teeth of said dogs, the continued downwardmovement of the knife severs the wire leaving the portion forward of theknife clamped between the dogs. This longitudinal move ment of the rod110 occurs against the resistance of spring 113, interposed between anadjustable collar 114 onsaid rod, and a guide standard 115 for the rodwhich standard is preferably adjacent to the rear end of the machine,this spring immediately after the roller clears the depending arm 112returns the rod 110 and the connected parts to their original positions.

Immediately after the Wire is severed as explained, theeye or loop ofthe bale tie completed by the severing of the wire, is stripped off theformer of the twister rod, the throw-0d mechanism for accomplishing thispurpose being constructed as follows :-116

indicates a rock shaft journaled in bearing lugs 117 depending frombearing plates 42 of the carriage and provided at its rear end with adepending'crank 118 and at its front end with an upwardly projectingcrank 119 from which projects forwardly an arm 120 equipped with anormally upwardly projecting' crank 121 adapted at times to swingdownwardly and. inwardly past the former when the latter is projectingdownward, to, throw or strip the eye or loop of the bale-tie downwardlytherefrom.

122, indicates. a d-shaped bracket secured rigidly to and depending fromone sideof. the,

framework near its rear end, the hook-portion of the bracket projectinginwardly and terminating in an oblique or inclined arm 123 and astraight extension 123 thereof, the inclined arm being in the path ofthe crank arm 118 depending from the rear end of rock shaft 116, whichcrank arm, in the rearward movement of the carriage, passes over thebridge or lower portion of the J-shaped bracket and comes intoengagement with the oblique or inclined arm 123 thereof and is swungoutwardly thereby, and is maintained in such position by the extension123 until shortly after the return movement of the carriage begins. Theoutward movement of said crank arm causes the rock shaft to oper-' ateand swing its double-cranked front end inwardly and-downwardly to causethe crank 121 to perform the stripping or throw-off function referredto. The rock-shaft is operated against the resistance of a coiledtorsion spring 124 mounted upon it and secured at one'end to said shaftand at the other bearing against the adjacent part of the carriage whichspring returns the rock-shaft to its original position shortly after thecarriage is started on its return travel occasioned by the link 58rounding the rear sprocket wheel 61, as will be readily understood, itbeing noticed in this connection that the angle arm 124 of shaft 116 bycontact with the carriage limits the return movement of shaft 116 so asto insure the proper disposition of the with its crank arms disposed asshown in, Figs. 5 and 7, said rock-shaft also having a short arm 1.28 toengage one of the end arms to limit rotatable movement imparted to saidshaft by the weighted arm. The shaft is also provided with 'a longer arm129, which is normally disposed outward of and against the slide-plate130 mounted in a guide 131 depending from the machine frame, saidslide-plate being adapted to prevent the rock-shaft from operatingprematurely under the weight of the bale ties as they accumulate uponthe arms 126. The slide-plate 130 is pivotally connected to a lever 132fulcrumed on a hanger 133 of the machine frame and having its front orfree end limited as to downward movement by the pin 134 projectingoutward from the adjacent leg frame, the free end of said lever beingprovided with a depending V-shaped tooth 135 and bowed outwardly so thatat its free end said tooth shall overlap a star or toothed wheel 136journaled on said leg frame, said wheel by preference having ten teethand an outwardly projecting. pin 137 for engagement l with the V-shapedtooth 135 once in each revolution for the purpose of raising the freeend of the lever and therewith withdrawing the slide plate 130 from thepath of arm 129 of rock-shaft 125.

138 is a ratchet wheel journaled on the leg frame and overlappedslightly by the toothed wheel 136 and provided with a pin 139 forengagement with one of the teeth of said wheel 136 once in eachrevolution, to turn said wheel one step, a spring-actuated dog 140carried by the leg frame guarding against accidental rotation of theratchet wheel.

141 is a link pivotally connecting the upper end of crank arm 2 1 withthe upwardlyproj ecting crank arm 143 of the rock shaft 144 journaled inthe bar 145 carried by standard 115, the inner end of said rock shaft144 being equipped with a depending crank 146 which is engaged andpushed rearwardly by the roller 71 on its rearward travel, this actiontaking place while the wire is being drawn through the machine andconsequently while the pawl 20 is being held in position to engage theratchet wheel 138, so that as said pawl is forced downward through theconnections between it and arm 146, it will retate wheel 138 one step.It will thus be seen that said wheel is rotated one step with each baletie made and that each tie is completed and drops upon the arms 126shortly after it is thus counted. Ten complete revolutions of theratchet wheel impart one complete revolution to wheel 136, which once ineach revolution trips slide plate 130 from the path of arm 129 and thuspermits each bunch of two hundred and fifty bale ties deposited upon arm126 to automatically rock shaft 125 and fall upon the floor or into anysuitable receptacle (not shown) placed to receive them.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced abale tie machine possessing the features of advantage enumerated asdesirable and I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to berestricted to the exact details of construction shown and described asobvious modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters- Patent, is

1. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder to bend the end ofsuch wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the;former and l of a rotatable "former to overlie the.front longitudinallynnovable, means for rotating the twisted bar tocause the former to. twist the body portion and bent-back ortion of thewire together to form an eye or oop in the wire around the former.

2. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder to bend the end ofsuch wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the former, longitudinally-movable means for rotatingthe twisted bar to cause the "former to twist the body portion andbent-back portion of the wire together to form an eye or loop in thewire around the former, and means to effect the release of the wire fromthe grippers.

3. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder to bend the end ofsuch wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the former, longitudinally-movable means for rotatingthe twisted bar to cause the former to twist the body portion andbent-back-portion of. the wire together to form an eye or loop in thewire around the former, means to effect the release of the wire from thegrippers, and a carriage carrying the twisted bar and former and adaptedto be moved longitudinally by the twisted-bar-operating means as itceases to rotate the twisted bar and the wire is released by thegrippers.

l. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder'to bend the end ofsuch wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the former, longitudinally-movable means for rotatingthe twisted bar to cause the former to twist the body portion andbent-back portion of the wire together to form an eye or loop in thewire around the former, means to effeet the release of the wire from thegrippers,

a carriage carrying the twisted bar and former and adapted to be movedlongitudinally by the twisted-bar-operatingmeans as it ceases to rotatethe twisted bar and the wire is released by the grippers, anda cuttingmechanism to sever the wire after the care riage has completed itstravel in one direction.

5; In a bale. tie machine, the combination endof'a bale-tie wire, afolder to bend the end. of such wireback over the former, grip= pers toclamp the benteback end and body portion ofthewire together, means towithdraw the folder to its original position after the wire is thusgripped, a spirally-twisted bar movable with the former,longitudinally-mov able means for rotating the twisted bar to cause theformer to twist the body portion and bent-back portion of the wiretogether to form an eye 01' loop in the wire around the former means toeffect the release of the wire from the grippers, a carriage carryingthe twisted bar and former and adapted to be moved longitudinally by thetwisted-bar-operating means as it ceases to rotate the twisted bar andthe wire is released by the grippers, a cutting mechanism to sever thewire after the carriage has completed its travel in one direction, andmeans to strip or throw the eye or loop of the wire off the former.

6. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder to bend the end ofsuch wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the former longitudinally-movable means for rotatingthe twisted bar to cause the "former to twist the body portion andbent-back portion of the wire together to form an eye or loop in thewire around the former, means to ef fect the release of the wire fromthe grippers, a carriage carrying the twisted bar and former and adaptedto be moved longitudinally by the twisted-bar-operating means as itceases to rotate the twisted bar and the wire is released from thegrippers, a cutting mechanism to sever the wire after the carriage hascompletedits travel in one direc ion, means to strip or throw the eye orloop of the wire oil the former a counting mechanism, and alongitudinally-movable means for operating the counting mechanism foreach bale-tie made.

7. In a bale-tie machine, the combination of a rotatable former tooverlie the front end of a bale-tie wire, a folder to" bend the end of.such wire back over the former, grippers to clamp the bent-back end andthe body portion of the wire together, means to withdraw the folder toits original position after the wire is thus gripped, a spirallytwistedbar movable with the former, longitudinally movable means for rotatingthe twisted bar to cause the former to twist the body portion andbent-back portion of the- Wire together to form an eye or loop-in thewirearound the former, means to eflect the release of the, wire from thegri pers, a carriage carrying the twisted bar an former and adapted tobe moved longitudinally by the twisted baroperating means as it ceasesto rotate the twisted bar and the wire is released by the grippers, acutting mechanism to sever the wire after the carriage has completed itstravel in one direction, means to strip or throw the eye or loop of thewire off the former, a counting mechanism, a longitudinally-movablemeans for operating the counting mechanism for each bale tie made, arock shaft provided with arms to catch the bale-ties as they fallfrom-the former and the cutting mechanism, movable means holding therock-shaft in normal position until its arms support a redeterminednumber of bale-ties, means for tripping said rock-shaft when it issupporting such number of halt-ties to permit the ties to operate theshaft and fall from the arms thereof, and means to return the rock shaftto its original position after such discharge of the bale-ties iseffected.

8. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a slidable carriage mountedthereon for movement longitudinally thereof, a shaft journaled in thecarriage and provided with a twister rod terminating in a formerstanding at an angle to the rod, a twisted bar longitudinally alined androtatable with said shaft and having its end portions disposed atright-angles to each other, and a head to reciprocate on the twisted barto rotate the same, and when it engages the front end of said twistedbar to hold the former in a horizontal position and when it engages therear end of the twisted bar to hold the former in a pendent position.

9. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a slidable carriage mountedthereon for movement longitudinally thereof, a shaft journaled in thecarriage and provided with a twister rod terminating in a formerstanding at an angle to the rod, a twisted bar longitudinally alined androtatable with said shaft and having its end portions disposed at rightangles to each other, and a head slidably mounted on the twisted bar andframe, an endless conveyer, and a foldable coupling between said headand endless conveyer and consisting of a pair of links pivotallyconnected together and one of them pivoted to said head. and the otherto said endless conveyer.

10. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a slidable carriage mountedthereon for movement longitudinally thereof, a shaft journaled in thecarriage and provided with a twister rod terminating in a formerstanding at an angle to the rod, a twisted bar longitudinally alined androtatable with said shaft and having its end portions disposed at rightangles to each other, a head slidably mounted on the twisted bar andframe, an endless conveyer, a foldable coupling between said head andendless conveyer anda slidable carriage mounted thereon for movementlongitudinally thereof, a shaft journaled in the carriage and providedwith a twister rod terminating in a. former standing atflan angleto therod, a twisted bar longitudinally alined and rotatable with said shaftand having its end portions disposed at right-angles to eachother, ahead slidably mounted on the twisted bar and frame, a driven sprocketwheel rotating around a horizontal axis, a second sprocket wheelsuitably journaled to'rotate around a horizontal axis, an endless chainconnecting said sprocket wheels, a foldable coupling between the saidchain and head, and consisting of a pair of links ivoted together, andone pivoted to the hea and the other to the chain, and one engaging theother to limit downward movement at their pivotal point of connection,and yielding means to resist upward movement of said links at thepivotal point of connection,

12. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a carriage slidably mountedthereon and consisting of a front and a rear member, a pair of alinedshafts j ournaled in said memers, a twisted bar rigidly connecting saidshafts, a head mounted to reciprocate on said twisted bar, and means tocause the head to travel rearwardly on and inciden tally rotate thetwisted bar and eventually engage the front end of the rear member ofthe carriage and slide the same rearwardly on the frame, and thenreverse its movement and slide forwardly upon the twisted bar to rotatethe latter in the opposite direction and then eventually engagethe rearend of the front member of the carriage and move the latter forwardly.

13. In a bale tie machine, a suitable frame, a carriage slidably mountedthereon and consisting of a front and a rear member, a air of alinedshafts journaled in said members, a twisted bar rigidly connecting saidshafts, a head mounted to reciprocate on said twisted bar, means tocause the head to travel rearwardly on and incidentally rotate thetwisted bar and eventually engage the front end of the rear member ofthe carriage and slide the same rearwardly on the frame, and thenreverse its movement and slide forwardly upon the twisted bar torotatethe latter in the opposite direction and then eventually engage the rearend of the front member of the carriage and move the latter forwardly,and means to arrest the forward movement of the carriage at apredetermined point.

14:. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame,

a carriage slidably' mounted thereon and consisting ofa front and a rearmember, a pair of alined shafts journaled in'said members, a twisted barrigidly'connecting said shafts, a head mounted to reciprocate on saidtwisted bar, means to cause the head to travel rearwardly on andincidentally rotate the twisted barand eventually engage the front endof the rear member of the carriage and slide the same rearwardly on theframe,-

and then reverse its movement and slide forwardly upon the twisted barto rotate the latter in the opposite direction and then eventuallyengage the rear end of the front member of the carriage and move thelatter forwardly, means to arrest the forward movement of the carriageat a predetermined point, and resilient means to prevent reboundingmovement of the carriage when it is arrested.

15. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame,

nected together and to said head and con-- veyer, and one of themarranged to engage the other to limit downward movement at their pivotalpoint of connection and a spring tending to force them upward at saidpoint' 16. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a slidable carriagemounted for longitudinal movement upon said frame, a twister rod carriedby and extending longitudinally of the carriage and provided with aformer adapted to depend from said rod when the carriage occupies itsrearmost position on the frame, a rotary throw-0H device journaled onthe carriage and provided with a depending arm at its rear end, and abracket carried by the frame and provided with an oblique portion toengage and rock said arm to cause the throw-off to strip the eye or loopof a bale-tie from the depending former. a 17 In a bale-tie machine, asuitable frame, a slidablecarriage mounted for longitudinal movementupon said frame, a twister-rod carried by and extending longitudinallyof the carriage and provided with a former adapted to depend from saidrod when the carriage occupies its rearmost position on the frame, arotary throw-off device journaled on the carriage and provided withadepending arm at its rear end, abracket carried by the'frame andprovided with anoblique portion to engage and rock said arm to causethethrow-off'to strip the eye of a bale-tie from the depending former,and-meansto return the throw-off device to its original position afterits arm becomes disengaged from said bracket.

18. In a device of the character described, a suitable frame, a cuttingmechanism carried thereby and comprising a stationary knife and avertically movable knife, a dog having a tooth overlying said stationaryknife, a pivoted dog having a tooth also overlying said stationaryknife, a spring secured to the pivoted dog at one end, a foldere'ngaging the other end of said spring to press the tooth of the pivoteddog toward the tooth ofthe stationary dog, and means to cause themovable knife to move downward and press an underlying wire between theteeth of said dogs and sever it upon the underlying stationary knife.

19. In a machine of the character described, a suitable frame, a cuttingmechanism oarried thereby and comprising a sta tionary knife and avertically movable knife, a dog having a tooth overlying said stationaryknife, a pivoted dog having a tooth also overlying said stationaryknife, a spring secured to the pivoted dog at one end, a folder engagingthe other end of said spring to press the tooth of the pivoted dogtoward the tooth of the stationary dog, means to cause the movable knifeto move downward and press an underlying wire between the teeth of saiddogs and sever it upon the underly ing stationary knife, a rotatabletwister rod having a laterally projecting former overlying said wirenear and forward of said dogs, and means to cause the folder to swingupward to remove the yielding pressure of the pivoted dog from the wire,and then engage said wire and bend it up around and forwardly over saidformer.

20. In a machine of the character described, a suitable frame, areciprocatory carriage mounted thereon, comprising two members equippedwith alined shafts, a flat bar, comprising non-twisted end portionsdisposed at right angles to each other, and a twisted intermediateportion, rotatable with and connecting said shafts, a head having abifurcation at one end slidingly engaging said frame and a bifurcationat the other end to engage either of the non-twisted portions of saidtwisted bar and formed with spiral grooves opening into saidbifurcations for engagement with the twisted portion of said bar, andmeans to reciprocate said head for the purpose of imparting rotation tosaid twisted bar and said shafts.

21. In a bale tie machine, the combination of a former underlying theend of a baletie wire, a transverse shaft journaled in the machineframe, an angular folder projecting from said shaft below the end ofsaid. wire rearward of the former, a torsion spring to hold said shaftwith the former yieldingly depressed, a doubled crank rod pivotedat itsfront end on the frame, a crankarm depending from said rod, a rodadjustably connected to said crank arm, a drum rigid on said shaft, aflexible connection engaging and secured to said drum at one end and tosaid adjustable rod at the other, a driven endless conveyer, and meansmovable therewith and adapted when moved forwardly to engage the free orrear end of said double crank and raise the same and thereby impartrocking movement to the said shaft to cause the folder to swing upwardlyand forwardly and bend the overlying end of the wire upwardly andforwardly around the former.

22. In a bale tie machine, a suitable frame, a stationary grippermounted thereon and provided in its upper side with a longitudinalgroove and at its rear end with a pair of upwardly and rearwardlyextending horns, a pivoted gripper, a longitudinal shaft suitablyjournaled and rovided at its front end with a crank arm, a ink pivotallyconnecting said crank arm with the pivoted gripper, a depending crankhaving outwardly projecting A. arms connected to said rock shaft, anendless driven conveyer, and means movable with said conveyer andadapted to ress upwardly against said depending cran: to raise the sameand thereby rock said shaft and cause said pivoted gripper to movedownward for the purpose of clamping the body portion and bent-backportion of the bale-tie wire into the groove of the stationary gripper.

23. In a bale-tie machine, a suitable frame, a shaft suitably journaledforward of said frame and provided with a grooved wheel to be rotated bythe frictional engagement therewith of the bale-tie wire as it is drawnthrough the machine, a wheel rotatable with and bearing a pivotedrelation to said shaft, a counting mechanism embodying a ratchet wheel,a pivoted pawl to be moved downward once for each bale-tie formed, abellcrank suitably pivoted and ivotally linked to said pawl, means forho lding the pawl yieldingly forward of the periphery of the ratchetwheel, and a link pivotal y connecting the opposite end of saidbell-crank with said pivoted pawl.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN H. MEIK.

Witnesses:

RAYMOND O. BERNAUER, HENRY KITSMILLER.

